


EDUCATIONAL CHART EXHIBITOR 



AND 



A Brief Sketch of Som«. of Its Numerous 



Applications* 



i^ %^* %i?^ 



LB 3265 
.C5 
U 
Copy 1 



MARCIUS WILLSCN 

VINELAND, N. J, 

'antiary, •1905. 



Vil: AND PRINTING HOUSE, 




5nt)ered according to Act of Congress, January ii, 1905, by Marcius Willson, in the O 'ice of the 
Librarian of Congress, at "."ashington, D, C. 




rte LB ^tLS 

Book. ^C 5 \Aj' 

Copyright )^"__ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSn> 



AN 



EDUCATIONAL CHART EXHIBITOR 



AND 



A Brief Sketch oi Some of Its Numerotis 






BY 

MARCIUS WILLSON 

VINELAND, N. J, 

January, 1905. 

^ S .J5 



VINELAND PRINTING HOUSE. 



Entered according to .". ct of Congress, Jam.ary ii, 1905, by Marcius Willsox, in the Office of the 
I^ibrarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



LIBRARY of flOWaRESS 
Fwo Copies rteceivea 

FEB 27 1905 
/) Oopj^rigni trs\fy 

COPY B. 



V 






£.■ 



An Educational Cbart Exhibitoi*, and its Applications^ 



The first idea of the following-described invention, and its applica- 
tions, occurred to me several years ago, when I was striving to find the 
mechanical means that were needed to carry forward the system of 
PRIMARY EDUCATION": which had been developing in my mind during 
many years of practical edticational work and authorship. 

The leading object of the invention is, to be able to exhibit, 
to quite young children, in a manner convenient to both teach- 
er and pupils, a great varietj' of interesting, educational and other 
illustrations, many of them on an unusually large scale, — not for pur- 
poses of study — but to obtain, through their aid, a much higher degree 
of the culture of the senses, and its results as an educational foundation, 
than could be obtained in any other way. The invention, therefore, is 
applicable to, and part of, the system of Primary Education above 
alluded to,— which is published in connection with the present article. 
The Invention Described. 

In the drawing herewith. Fig. i represents a framework, of per- 
haps six feet in height, about two and a half feet in width, and perhaps 
nearly two feet in depth, — called a Cabinet. 

In the open front are represented two chart-rollers, 4 — 4, on which 
the chart-roll is wound — a part of it on each; and two direction-rollers, 
19 — 19, which keep the wide, vertical chart-roll, in the front of the cab- 
inet. This char<^-roll is of essentially white paper on a backing of thin 
firm cloth; and on it are drawn, printed, painted, or otherwise inscribed, 
designs, diagrams, charts, or other illustrations. . This chart- roll, being 
of the available width of the cabinet, may be of any length desired, — 
30, 50, and even 80 or 100 feet; and its extreme ends are attached to 
the two chart-rollers (4 — 4), the form of which is shown at Fig. 2; the 
longitudinal segmental recess in each roller is to receive one end of the 
roll, which is then to be covered by a suitable piece, and secured hy 
screws, or other proper device, that will accurately fill out the round- 
ness of the roller. 



6 

Each one of the chart rollers (4 — 4) is extended be\-oiid its bearing 
at ,5, (see A. ) and enlarged by a thick band (6) or other suitable ma- 
terial, and is there called a "friction drum;" and at its extremity is a 
crank, (8) to turn the roller manually, as needed, whereby the chart- 
mil (17) is wound up on the two rollers (4 — 4) as desired. 

Immediately in the rear of the friction drum is a vertical bracket 
(10) partly hollowed out to lightly clasp the drum. This bracket is 
firmly secured, at right angles to the end of the cabinet, and at its 
lower extremity is a horizontal arm or division (ii) which may consist 
of a piece about an inch in thickness added to the lower end of the ver- 
tical bracket (10). To the other end of the l)racket 10. a seiiicircular 
bracket-arm (15) is hinged, as seen at 14, and at its lower extremity is 
an adjusting screv/ 16, which is adapted to be turned manually sq as to 
compress the brake-arm 15 against the friction drum, to retard the ro- 
tation of the chart-roller, as may be required. 

The two vertical slots. (3 — 3) near the front of the cabinet, which 
have their upper ends enlarged to a little more than the diameters of 
the direction rollers (19 — 19), which pass through from side to side of 
the cabinet, then fall down to the narrow part of the slot, where are the 
bearings of their axles as denoted by 5 in the extension A , where 
these rollers revolve freely. They are just back of the chart-roll 17, 
and thus they keep that roll at all times in a vertical position, and in 
the very front of the cabinet. 

There are two right-angled slots ( 2 — 2) that open from the rear 
through the upper portions of the side ends of the cabinet; and similar 
slots through the lower portions of the side ends of the cabinet; and 
through these slot openings the ends of the axles (trunnions) of the 
two chart-rollers, with the chart-rolls attached, are ea,sily placed in 
their proper bearings, as denoted by 5 of the upper extension A. The 
rear inclosure of the cabinet is uncovered at the time, from the top of 
the upper horizontal slot 2, to the bottom of the lower horizontal slot 2. 
Through this opening the chart rollers, with their burden, are not only 
easily introduced into the cabinet, but easily removed therefrom, for 
changes of rollers as needed. 

The same extension of the chart rollers, with the brackets, brake- 
arms, crank, etc., as shown at A. and B., may be applied at the other 
two extremities of the same rollers if necessary; but the spring-pawls, 
as denoted by 13, in the official patent, and the ratchec wheels denoted 
by 7, are omitted here, in our illustration, as they are not thought to be 
necessary, unless it be in the case of exceedingly long chart-rolls, when 
they may be used at both extremities of the two chart-rollers. 



7 
And further, when one chart-roller is revolved, to wind up the 
chart-roll, the other chart-roller may be arranged to rotate reversely, or 
not, as may be thought best, with the omission, or not, of the spring- 
pawls and ratchet wheels. The official patent provides, in the follow- 
ing language, for such slight changes. It says: "Various changes in 
form, proportion, and the minor details of construction, maj- be re- 
sorted to without departing from the principle, or sacrificing any of the 
advantages of the invention." 



Applications of the Invention* 



Some of the numerous applications of the invention will be briefly 
referred to here; but as they are, as a whole, a part of the system of 
Prii)ia/y Education before referred to, thej^ must needs be postponed to 
await the full explanation of the system itself. And we must bear in 
mind that the illustrations here referred to, as exhibited on the chart- 
rollers of the Cabinet, are supposed to be so large that many of them, 
separately may cover two or three square feet, or more, of the long 
and wide chart-roll of the Cabinet, therefore they may be plainly seen 
over a large audience room, or school of many pupils. 

I. Select Nursery Stories. (To these we allude in our article 
on Primary Education'.) The illustrations may be enlarged, on the 
chart-roll, to be a hundred times the size of those in the story books of 
the children, so as to be plainly .seen by the whole school; and they cul- 
tivate the observing powers of the little children, before they have 
learned to read. Several of these nursery, and other stories, ma}' be 
exhibited on one chart-roll, and in the same cabinet. 

Teacher explains one of the stories, and encourages and accustoms 
the pupils to go to the cabinet, point out the pictures, and tell what they 
can about them. 

The same cabinet and the .same chart-roll contain, for occasional 
use only, introductory lessons in spelling, reading, addition, subtrac- 
tion, multiplication, division, etc., and some primary kindergarten les- 
sons also. Thus the explanations are given to a large class of pupils, 
or to the whole school, with all the benefits of association, instead of to 
each pupil separately'. 

II. Outline Maps. For occasional, ready use. Suppose that there 
is a large map of the United States hanging in the school-room. The 
chart-roll of a cabinet may then present, in a series, outline maps of all 
the states, separately, each one, perhaps, about two and one-half feet 
in width, and of its proper comparative length, but all in their proper 



positions as seen on the large map, with the name of each state in let- 
ters so large as to be easily read b}^ the whole school, jierhaps with the- 
iname of the capital also. In the cabinet such outline maps ma}' be 
liept unsoiled, and new in appearance. 

III. Natural History. The Beginning of. 

The Cat Tribe. The domestic cat, and her kittens at play. 
Natural size of all. Then pictures — natural size — of the MaHa, Per- 
sian, Angora, the beautiful Tortoise Shell cat, Manx cat, Couguar, 
(the American Catamount or Panther) Jaguar, Leopard, etc. 

Teacher should be able to tell something about all of them, to make 
the exhibit interesting, and at the same time instructive. Stories 
about the animals. 

IV. Domestic Fowls, and Swine. Hen and chickens; the latter 
at play — taken by kodac, and enlarged. Prominent breeds of domestic 
fowls. Turkey, Ducks, Goose, Wild Goose, Peacock, Guinea Fowls, 
Common Dove, Wild Pigeon. All as large as life. Sow and Pigs- 
Hog with long legs and long snout. Short-legged Berkshire or Suffolk., 
Wild Boar— and some others. All may be as large as life. 

Teacher, on proper occasion will give various uses of bristles, pork, 
ham, lard, etc. 

V. Dogs, common kinds, and puppies at play. Then Shepherd 
Dog, Esquimaux, Newfoundland, Greyhound, St. Bernard, Bull Dog, 
Pointer, Terrier, and others. Teacher may find much here to talk 
about, with numerous anecdotes of dogs, habits of different kinds, etc. 
In all these natural history charts introduce numerous and appropriate 
kindergarten lessons, to amuse the young pupils. 

VI. Cattle and Horses. Well-known breeds of cattle. Dela- 
wares, Durhams, Alderneys, Herefords, and Jerseys. Characteristics 
of, from the long, wide-horned and sharp-horned Brazilian ox and bull, 
and cows, to the polled cattle that have no horns. American Bison or 
Buffalo, Cape Buffalo, the Auroch. Ox with the proper markings, 
and names of parts. Man milking. Uses of milk, meat, fat, horns, 
hides, leather — kinds of leather. 

Horses. Shetland pony, Mustang, Arabian horse. Racer, Zebra, 
Mule or Donkey. Parts of horse marked and named. Shoeing horses. 

Teacher will find numerous anecdotes about horses. Rarey the 
Horse-Tamer, etc. 

VII. Sheep and Goats. Common sheep and lamb. Merino, 
Cheviot, Leicester, South-down, Cotswold, etc. Asiatic Argoli, Cash- 
mere Goat, Rocky Mountain Goat, European Wild Goat, — Ibex, Al- 
pacca (though not a goat). 



9 

Teacher gives characteristics and habits of. Varied uses, flesh, 
skin, milk, fat, etc. 

Note. — Several of the foregoing numbers may be put in one cabinet; 
and probably two cabinets will be sufficient for all of them. 

VIII. Bees, Ants and Wasps, f Entomological.) Honey Bees. 
Show the Queen, Worker, Drone, and Honeycomb, all natural size at 
first, and then greatly enlarged, — cells highly magnified. Also show 
Wasps of several kinds. Hornets, 'Bumble Bees, Yellow Jackets, Carpen- 
ter Bees, etc., highly magnified; and, by the side of each, one of the 
same kind, of natural size. The teacher niay make this subject very 
interesting in many lessons. 

Ants. The Common Ants, the Mining Ants, Agricultural Ants, 
and Slave-holding Ants, greatly enlarged; and, by the side of each, one 
of the same kind of natural size. A chart-roll So feet long might be 
well filled with pictures of the principle kinds of these insects and their 
peculiar habitations. Here is much for the ambitious teacher to study 
and make very interesting to children. 

IX. Music: for first lessons, and for advanced students. A chart 
roll three feet wide, and of any length desired, might exhibit, after first 
lessons, many pieces of music on a scale suflSciently large to be plainly 
seen by a large .school, or other large audience. vSte some account of 
ancient music in "Primarj^ Education." The music chart will be of 
frequent u.se to beginners; and the whole school mav te taught to sing 
from the notes which all can see,, as the teacher poir.ts them out. 

X. The Insect World. A general view of it, under the seven 
orders as arranged by both Agassiz and Dr. T. W. Harris. Under each 
of the orders give the priricipal members of tliat group rs large as may 
be convenient, with one of the same kird, of l:fe .^ize, by the side of it- 
After tliese, on same chart-roll, give the principal "Insects Injurious to 
Vegetation," from Dr. Harris, in the same order as to size, as before.. 

XI. Birds (Ornithology. J Their characteristic features. \. Heads. 
Give those of Falcon, Eagle, Parrot, and Eagle Owl. 2. Feet of the 
same. 3. Feet of Poultrv bird, and Duck. 4. Nest of Ruby-throated 
Humming Bird, Gold Finch, Dusky Flycatcher, Baltimore Oriole, Pen- 
dulum Titmouse, and Tailor Bird 5. Compound ne.sts of the Sociable 
"Weaver Birds, — Republican Grosbeaks, and Weaver Finches. 

XII. Birds Continued. Forms and Sizes. The illustrations 
should be arranged in their se\en natural groups; to follow on the same 
chart-roll as their Chai-aderi sties The principal birds, as large as may 
be convenient,, oL each of the seven groups, with one of the same kind, 



ito 

of natural size, beside each of the larger represent atioiis. The largest 
of the birds, such as the Ostrich and Condor, should be placed separate- 
ly, as large as the chart-roll will permit. 

XIII. Microscopical. The wonders shown, mainly or wlioll}-, by 
th'e microscope. 

Magnified forms of some of the common minute objects of creation, 
both animal and vegetable, but mostly confined to animal life. The 
term an-i-jjial'-cules is generally applied to the animal division of minute 
-living objects. The}^ may be represented on the chart-roll as magnified 
■several hundred or even a thousand times. 

Teacher may explain that a mere drop of water that contains some 
'decaying vegetable or animal matter, when seen through a microscope, 
is often found to sicarni with living beings — a little world of them — 
in active motion. And such living beings are found in every ditch, 
pond, lake or river over the whole earth, and even in melted snow on 
the highest mountains. 

XIV. Common Industries in American Life, which so many 
■ children know but little of. 

I. Farming. Ploughing, planting, farm vegetables. Sowing of 
wheat, cutting, threshing, grinding. Flour and Bran — food produced 
from. Rye, oats, corn, barlej-, hay. Also take up, as occasion offers, 
Cotton, wool, flax and hemp; lumber, tobacco, bricks, sugar, mining, 
-etc. 

Teacher only makes brief allusions to these subjects at first, until 
'the children get interested in them, and ask questions about them. 
Illustrations of ploughing, planting, sowing, large pictures of the 
cereals, and of cotton, flax, sugar cane, etc. 

XV. Crystal Forms of Sno"w, Hail, and Frost. Give the 
page of 96 forms of snow cr^-stals from Flammarion, "The Atmos- 
phere," — as large as the chart-roll will allow; but the most interesting 
of the forms should be shown separately, aud much larger. Then show 
some of the myriad forms of frost on window panes, and other places. 
Such beautiful natural products would be very useful in teaching 
children, and even adults, to cultivate their powers of observation. 

XVI. Fur-Bearing Animals. All may be drawn as large as life. 
Beaver, Sable, Frmine, Martin, Mink, Otter, (sea and land). Chin- 
chilla, Musquash (the Muskrat), Foxes ^five kinds). Seal, Squirrel, 
Fisher. 

Teacher. Qualities of the different furs, and uses. Account of the 
fur trade, and fur markets in America and Europe. Among the 
squirrels, the Sciurus Vulgaris furnishes the much prized Min'-e-ver 



II 
furs. 

XVII. Fishes. (Iclilhj-ology). It is difficult to arrange in def- 
irite classes. Therefore we would illustrate the most prominent fish 
separately. Shac', Halibut, Haddock, Mackerel, Striped Bass, Brook 
Trout, Salmon Trout, Herring, Sardine, Pickerel, Perch, Dace, Eel, 
— all as large as convenient, and then, bj' the side of each, one of the 
same kind, natural size, and al.'-o one of its scales much enlarged. All 
in their proper colors if possible. Also a group of the prominent colored 
fish, which can be photographed in their colors. 

Teacher gives an account of the principal fisheries, and fish culture. 
(Codfish, -shad, mackerel, herring fisheries.) 

XVIII. 'The Mammaeia, — Animals that suckle their young. Ar- 
range them in their fourteen groups, or classes, all as large as possible, 
but in their natural proportions, except the largest of Ihe animals; these 
to be shown in the next number, XIX; but XVIII and XIX all on the 
same chart-roll. 

XIX. Some of the Larger Mammalia, to be shown separately, 
and as large as the chart-roll will allow. Such are the Whale. Great 
White Shark, Elephant, Giraffe or Camelopard, Rhinoceros, Hippopot- 
amus, Camel, Dromedary, Llama, Porpoise, American Alligator, Croco- 
dile of the Nile, African Lion, Bengal Tiger, Chimpanzee, Gorilla. 

XX. Ships. Frigate, Sloop, Schooner, Brig, Cutter, Ketch, Yacht, 
etc. A full-rigged ship without sails, all parts plainly named. Then 
the same ship with sails, sails named. Then the three ships of Colum- 
bus, 1492; followed by side wheel steamboat, and screw propeller. A 
couple of our largest men-of-war; largest commercial vessel in the 
world. Measurements of these given. We^ither signals, and their 
meaning. 

Teacher: But little more here can be required of pupils, than to 
know the names of vessels from their shape, tl'e names of prominent 
parts. iTid of the sails. 

XXI. Botany. First, an open flower showing the corolla, pistil, 
stamer.s and calyx. These parts then enlarged separately. Different 
corollas sho-wn. A five petalled rose, and by the side of it a "hundred 
petalled" rose, to .show the effect of cultivation. Some of the common 
flowering plants^ greatly enlarged, in their natural colors if possible. 
General ffi'ects of cultivation. We do not get the same kinds of pota- 
toes. a| pies. peMchts, etc., by planting their seeds. 

XXII. Geometry. All the desirable problems in geometry may 
be represented in one cabinet, drawn large and with heav}' lines, and 

venrtliing; ma.rked with, im morals. Then the same drawings should be 



seen in small books for the students, but marked ivith the letteis of the 
alphabet. Problems in Algebra, Trigonometry, Conic Sections, etc.» 
marked in the same manner, may be found in the same cabinet. 

XXIII. Geology. Its general outlines- Its Eight Ages may be 
admirably represented, so as to make the whole subject ver}'- interesting. 
Very suitable for lecturing purposes. 

XXIV. Astronomy. Show first, one of the fifty-five star maps 
that cover the whole heavens with their myriads of stars, — as large as 
the chart-roll will admit. Then one that gives the comparative sizes of 
the sun and the eight planets: the sun's diameter, iqo thousand miles 
greater than the diameter of the moon's orbit; showing the velocity of 
light; the ossillations of light, 479 to 699 trillions in a second; etc., etc. 

XXV. The Human Figure. Twenty or more positions of the 
human form. Faces expressive of the characteristics of joy, admira- 
tion, tranquility, astonishment, weeping, crj'ing, pain, laughing, envy, 
jealous melancholy. The five ages of Man — Infancy, Childhood, Youth, 
Maturity, Old Age. See Bell's Anatomy of Expression; I^avater'.s Por- 
traits of Remarkable Men, Spurzheim's Physiognomy. 

As quite young people will make attempts at drawing the human 
figure, these large sketches will, at least, amuse them, perl'aps aid some 
of them, and show the greatness of the subject. 

XXVI. Thirty Distinguished Persons in American History. 
Drawn with full-size head and shoulders. 

b. d. ■ .b. d. 

William Penn 1644-17 18 Winfield Scott 1786- 1866 

Jonathan Edwards (Elder) 1703-1758 Jas. Fenimore Cooper 1789-1851 
Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790 Mrs. E. H. Sigourney 1791-1865 

Patrick Henry 1736-1799 William C. Bryant 1794-1878 

John Marshall 1755-1835 Mrs. Sarah J. Hale 1795-1879 

Aaron Burr 1756- 1828 George Bancroft 1 800-1 891 

Marquis de Lafayette 1757-1834 Ralph W. Emerson 1803-1882 

Alexander Hamilton 1 757-1 804 Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804- 1864 

William Wirt 1772-1834 Henry W. Eongfellow 1807-1882 

Henry Clay 1777- 1852 Eouis J. Agas.siz 1807- 1873 

John J. Audubon 1 780-1 851 Jefferson Davis 1808- 1889 

John C. Calhoun 1782-1850 Horace Greeley 1811-1872 

Daniel Webster 1782-1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe 1812- 

Thomas H. Benton 1782-1858 Henry Ward Beecher 1813-1887 

Washington Irving 1783-1859 James Russell Lowell 1S19-1S91 

Teacher should be able to tell a little of the history of each of the 
above. It vvall be a good mathematical exercise for students to look at 



13 

the figures, and tell the name of each person, and how long he lived. 
[The above is subject to revision.] 

XXVII. The Presidents of the United States, in the same 
order as the above, except that the dates are those of the Presidential 

years. 

XXVIII. Perspective and architectural Drawings, All on 
a large scale, to be seen b}^ a large school, or other large audience. 
The several orders of Grecian architecture may be here exhibited to 
great advantage. 

XXIX. Thirty Distinguished Men, from Homer Down to 
THE Present day. Head and shoulders as large as life. Costumes 
•of the different times, as far as possible. 

Born B. C. Born A. D. 

Grecian 884 Charlemagne German 1742 

496 Genghis Khan Asiatic 

' '. 484 Timour or Tamerlane ' ' 
" 470 Shakspeare English 

Persian 470 I^ouis XIV French 

Grecian 429 Newton, Sir Isaac English 
" 429 William Penn " 

385 Peter the Great 
384 Charley XII 
" 382 Alexander Pope 
" 356 Earl of Chatham 
Roman 106 William Pitt 

" 98 Napoleon Bonaparte 

" 70 Lord Wellington 

" 37 A.D. Eord Byron 
Teacher. Only brief notices of the foregoing — and only occasion- 
ally—will be expected at first. Costumes of the different periods should 
be given, as far as possible. All the foregoing numbers must bs con- 
sidered as merely suggestive, and as subject, for strictly educational 
subjects — primary or advanced — to any revision, extension or abridge- 
ment required. It is probable that they may all be embraced in half a 
dozen, or less number of cabinets. 

Additional Uses of the Invention. 



Homer 

Sophocles 

Herodotus 

Socrates 

Xerxes 

Pericles 

Plato 

Demosthenes 

Aristotle 

Philip of Macedon 

Alexander the Great 

Cicero 

Julius C«sar 

Virgil 

Plato 



1160 
1336 

1564 
1638 
1642 

1644 
Russian 1672 
Swede 
English 



French 
English 



16S2 
1688 
1708 

1759 
1769 
1769 

1788 



The system is adapted to a great variety ' of additional illustrative 
uses, of which I will suggest two or three only. 
I. Illustrations op Travel in Foreign Eands. i. In Lap- 



14 

land; with Reindeer and Dogs. Costumes and residences of tlie people.. 
2. In several other portions of the world. 

II. Wall Paper. Almost an\' number of patterns maybe success- 
ively exhibited on the lengthwise of the chart-roll of a cabinet, or in 
couples, side by side. One chart-roll ma}' be easily removed to give 
place to another. 

■III. Stereoscopic Views. A hundred or more of these may be 
put on one chart-roll, and a stereoscope, through which to view them, 
xnAY be easily adjusted to the cabinet, and removed when not in use. 

IV. I have the plan of a Railroad Cabinet, for exhibiting (:) In. 
a car e?i route, the names of all that railroad's stations, in their order. 
(2) The population of each station or village. ^3 ) The distance be- 
tween any two stations. (4) The height above ocean level. (5) The 
distance from any station to either extreme of the road. And, (6) If 
the brakeman will turn the crank of the cabinet as needed, the chart- 
roll will show, at any time, the position of the train on the road. 



Remarks* 

Photographic bromide enlargements, of any size, may be made 
-from small illustrations. 

A series of small cabinets may be made, and operated, on the 
same plan as the larger cabinets here represented, although I have a 
somewhat different arrangement for them, and more simple. 

These smaller cabinets, very much cheaper than those before des- 
•cribed, may be used for the same purposes as the larger ones. They 
may be about two feet in height, a foot and a half in width, and as 
■deep as may be necessary. The principal cheapness will in part con- 
sist in the smaller size of the pictures displa3ed; but the pictures for 
school use should be of the same kind as those in the large cabinets, so 
that when the school can afford it, the large cabinets may, in all re- 
spects, be substituted in place of the small ones. 

In the small cabinets the pictures may be large enough to be seen 
distinctly by quite large classes, although not so well by large audi- 
ences. The small cabinets may be found very desirable for home use, 
:as the children can manage them. And as a chart-roll can easily 
be taken out of a cabinet, and another substituted in its place, one cab- 
inet may thus accommodate any number of chart -rolls, with any variety 
of pictures that may be desired. 

If small descriptive books should accompany the entire series of 
^exhibits, they would not only furnish an admirable fund of amusement 
and instruction for the young of both schools and families, but they 
would be a suitable basis for teachers to build upon, from their owa 
resources,— each one for himself or herself— in the business of instruc- 
tion. A class of professional teachers would thus grow up, worthy of 
the name. 

[The foregoing invention was patented, December 20, 1904]. 



Our Countr/^s Greatest Edtrcational Needs, 



I have long felt that our country's greatest educational needs lie 
along the line of primar}^, rather than of advanced, or higher, educa- 
tion. There is a semi-vacant period in childhood, beginning before the 
child's first attempts at learning to read little stories with sufficient 
fluency to be interested in them, — a period that usually extends over the 
third, fourth, and fifth years, and with some children over the sixth — 
and sometimes beginning even in the second year — before anything like 
initiative study is desirable, — during which time the senses are more 
acute, more active, and more retentive, than in an}- other equal period 
in life. Here, at the beginning of the ways, we would begin the prac- 
tical educational training of the senses (not study ) that should meet all 
the natural demands, and reasonable capabilities, of the child's mind. 
And there are many of these demands. The kindergarten, whenever 
available, is doing a good work here, in a limited way, but it does not 
embrace all the educational needs that may be otherwise covered, and 
under the present educational system cannot be made universal. We. 
shall allude to it further. Books and libraries, as yet, are of no avail, 
and are rather an obstruction. The children's world, at this period, is 
a Fair}^ realm that appeals to the imagination only, and through the 
senses; and it is that world of ideals that we would first enter upon, and 
help to people with creations of delight that should lead up to those of 
substantial realit}^ and worth in the sterner duties of life. 

It should not be said that this fiction ideal is a wrong beginning in 
education, for Nature emplanted it in the child's mind. And the little 
doll that the child talks to, and dresses, and hugs, and kisses, and re- 
proves, is all a fiction, and the child knows it, and delights to imagine 
it a living reality. And it would be a silly mother who should try to 
dispel that fiction from the child's mind. And the little boy that be- 
strides a stick, imagines it a horse that prances, and gallops; and he 
delights to show his little sister how he rides, and both enjoy the fiction 
of the doll and the horse, better than either could separately. Associa- 
tion itself, with fancy free, is one of the greatest delights of childhood;:. 
and, as we shall see, it may be made one of its adjunct educators. 

It is the judicious training of the sense of sight, especially, and 



what can be gathered from it, in the child's wonderful activities, in the 
ready remembering of whatever greatly interests it, to which we would 
especially direct our attention. Following the parent's lullabies and 
the many little endearments of the nurser}-, we find that, even when we 
pass beyond this period, the child's fancies still tend in the same fairy 
direction, and with growing realistic possibilities. We would therefore 
begin a practical educational system, if in a school, or other gathering 
of small children, with proper serial illustrations and explanations of 
what v\^e wish to bring before them, all addressed to the ever alert sense 
of sight. To the vrell-known question, "How can I keep these little 
ones out of mischief?" — it is answered, "Give them something to 
do." I would, also, say, "Give them something to see, or to hear, 
a;zif something to do." And why the necessity of something of this- 
kind? 

I answer: Because children are busybodies, both mentally and 
physicall5^ When awake, healthy children cannot be still for a mo- 
ment; and their minds are as active as their bodies. The}^ not only see 
everything around them, but they are constantly searching into what 
they see, and what they hear. For what were these natural instincts 
and activities given them at so earh^ a period in life? Certainl}^ not to 
be constantly repelled. Everj'^ single exhibition of them is a question 
that demands an answer, and to repel it is a blow to the natural growth 
and natural demand of the mentality of the little investigator, and a 
suppression of inquiring nature. 

Here is an educational field which educators seem to have over- 
looked, or to have thought not worthy of their attention, and it is only 
recently that a few enterprising kindergartners have seen its import- 
ance, and in a limited way have begun a good work there. But the 
field is a large one, and it requires much preparation to occup}" it. 

I would therefore supply the best means possible even for anticipat- 
ing the natural inquisitiveness of children. I would not only not bluff 
off their constant inquiries, but I would encourage and cultivate their 
natural propensities for acquiring knowledge, by occupying their minds 
with pleasant subjects that would gradually direct their thoughts into 
useful and higher channels. The means that I would suggest for these 
better educational results, I have endeavored to outline, in great part, 
in another article. And much of it is embraced in the subject of large, 
appropriate, cheap, convenient and easil}^ available illustrations, that- 
may be shown with but little trouble of manipulation to small or large 
audiences. 

Returning to the subject of interesting Nursery stories that are 



a8 

suitable to be brought before very young children that are either in the 
nunsery or just out of it, I have in my mind a delightful children's 
•story book that contains half a dozen illustrations of the scenes des- 
cribed, each occupying one-half of a page, about nine square inches 
for each picture. But most of the smaller school children are too 
young to read about them; and, to make both the story and the picture 
available, on the usual system — even to those who can read a little — 
each child must have a book; and, a hundred books for a hundred 
'Children. 

But in our proposed sj-stem each one of the half dozen pictures 
ma}' be enlarged a hundred times, and the whole six may be exhibited 
serially on a chart roll two and a half feet wide and thirty or fort}' feet 
or more in length; and as they are shown in their order, in the front of 
a cabinet framework, they may be pointed to, and explaiired by the 
teacher to a hundred pupils at the same time. 

While the story, in book form, with small pictures, could only be 
enjoyed by a hundred pupils, from a hundred books, and by a teacher's 
time devoted to each pupil separately, it could be much better enjoyed 
by the whole school, from large pictures, in one-hundredth part of the 
time. Much more sympath}-, aird hence much additional enjo}aiient, 
would attend the teacher's general explanation, than his quiet personal 
instruction to each pupil separately. Even the teacher would not be 
as likely to become enthusiastic over one pupil as over a hundred. 
Thus the new system, carried out by a skillful teacher, would be a 
great economy of time, and perhaps of material also, in primary educa- 
tioir, and especially, a great gain in efficiency. 

I suggest that, with every picture exhibited before a primary class 
■of pupils, there might be a little of the primary studies introduced, as 
the pupils are sufiiciently advanced for them, and in types so large as 
to be distinctly seen by all. And whatever material from the kinder- 
garten should be deemed appropriate to the different grades of pupils, 
might find their most convenient, and their best uses, here. A wi ie 
field is here opened tor them ; and I think I foresee a great advance, 
and a building up, of the best principles of the kindergarten system, 
along this same line of the early and long continued culture of tlie 
■senses. 

After the Nursery stories to which we have alluded we would pro- 
ceed to those a little more advanced, and perhaps each one of them em- 
bracing — only incidentally — some important principle in morals, health, 
• or worldly duties; and an indefinite variety of such, fully adapted to our 
jpurposes, may be found. But Natural History will probably furnish 



the greatest amount, both in interest and instruction, for children, im 
its great variety of useful materials. In our article on "Educational 
Chart Exhibitor," which forms a part of the same S3'stem of Primary 
Education that we are developing here. Natural History is a prominent 
feature, and of infinite value. Realizing how fond children are of 
stories about animals, and of seeing the j-oung of animals — as kittens, 
and chickens, and puppies, in their play — we begin with life size illus- 
trations, and simple accounts, of our domestic animals, after the several': 
primary stories that we have alluded to. 

We ask the reader — and especiall}^ the professional educator — who 
would somewhat comprehend our system that begins so early in 
life with the culture of the senses as the very foundation of all 
knowledge — we ask him to look over the few suggestive details of the- 
subjects included there for the training of the young without the drill 
of study, and consider the probable results as to intellectual culture that 
would be produced thereb}'^, if embraced in a free working system on 
the principles that we advocate. Is the culture of th'i senses an impor- 
tant factor in practical education, or is it rot? 

Another part, however, of primar}^ education, which should go- 
with the culture of the senses, is that part of child nature which is ever 
putting forth its endeavor to make things; to do what its elders do. I 
consider this ever urgent demand of childhood a very important factor- 
to be dealt with in primary education; and I would strive to meet its- 
requirements in connection with, or collateral to, those of the senses. 
I would furnish much for the hand to do, and would cultivate its effec- 
tive skill through the medium of pleasant hand work — of doing what 
the mind will delight in. And a sufficient amount of such work may 
be readil}' found. I have expressed my views on this subject at some 
length, in an article which I may hereafter gi\-e to the public. The- 
kindergarten maj- suppl}- some of the needed work. 

In a system of early, and ever continued culture of the senses, the; 
child becomes educated to a wider, and, we might say, more scientific 
method of observation than the ordinar\- hum-drum of life would give 
it, and without losing any of the natural innocency of childhood. And: 
further, our idea is that through the senses the child grows in mental 
stature, of which the body partakes, as if it were removed from a bar- 
ren waste to a landscape of perennial richness and beauty. No matter 
how numerous or advanced are the subjects that the teacher or parent 
brings to the notice of children by the simple statement or show of 
facts which they can comprehend, and, mainly those that are primarily- 
addressed to the eye. We may be told that some of these things are- 



20 

probably too liigh, or too advanced for children to comprehend them. 
Certainly, in one aspect they are so, for we, grown people, cannot fully 
ovipreliend the thousandth part of what the daj'light brings to us; but 
we would not shut out the daylight, and prefer the darkness, for all 
that. What may be learned by children, through the delightful med- 
ium of the senses, even if enlarged by illustrations of nature's wonders, 
we would not reject, but we would not force them upon the youthful 
mind by eaily study. The knowledge obtained, however much there 
may be of it, by the ordinary observation of the senses, does not crowd 
the mind any more than do the ten thousand objects of nature on 
which the ej^es of children dwell everj' day; for the child's life is in a 
world of the senses; and as this primitive world life is cultivated by in- 
telligent aids, it develops into the higher intellectual life; and the great- 
er the grasp of the senses in early life, the more capacious and power- 
ful will the senses become, and the more the intellect will have to build 
on. 

It xi\\\ be found very easy for the educator, with the large and ver- 
satile illustrations that we contemplate, and which are among the 
•essentials of our sy;-ten, to open the minds of ver}' young children to a 
new and ever interesting world of animated aiid vegetable life around 
them, and in tlieir very midst, all of which they can sufficiently com- 
prehend; and it may lie made, as it should be — a play, a recreation, ia 
learning about the common wonders of creation; and thus the common 
school children would find, without study, but not without thought, 
"tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and^ 
good in everything." 

And all this wealth of the materials of knowledge comes naturally 
to the child through the medium of the senses — the mere culture of the 
powers of observation, which is an important part of education that has 
hitherto been scf.rcely noticed by educators aboT'e the kindergarten. 
But the principle has been at work in hundreds of isolated cases with 
tremendous efficienc3^ When Zerah Colburn astonished the world as 
a mathematical prodigy, yet as the results of his computations could 
neither be explained by himself nor accounted for b}^ others, they were 
•deemed scarcelj^ less than miraculous. But away down among his fine 
senses there must have been one, or a combination of them, that so 
early started into activity as to absorb his whole nature, and he saw 
things as one does in a dream, without the incubus of time; and the 
whole scene was so vivid to him that he could onh^ tell what he saw. 
He was not aware of making any computation, and I doubt if there 
was any like that which occurs in after life. The nature of man's inner 



21 

sou], which is the domain of the senses, man himself knows Httle about 
in his present state of being. 

The ignorant bhnd Tom performed on \he piano, from the sense of 
hearing alone, as few accomphshed pianists could. It was the sense of 
harmony that absorbed his whole nature. Others have had the same 
•exp-rence, both before, and since then- And there have been and are 
now chess players, who would play, with infinite skill, twenty, thirty, 
or forty or more games of chess at the same time, Avithout seeing the 
-chessboard at all, but merely having the opposing moves explained to 
them, and the result was a wonderful memory and skill which no one 
seems to have been able to explain 

And yet we cannot believe that these prodigies, as we call them, 
were generally possessed of superior mental culture, but we think there 
■are abundant reasons for believing that the liighly stimulated senses of 
the individuals accomphshrd all; and that long trained observation^ — 
keener, and more searching than common, was at the basis of all the 
wonders. We recollect the case of a person who, in passing through 
a room, and near a book case filled with books to which he seemingly 
gave only a transient glance, could 'afterwards tell the titles of a great 
many of the books, the colors of their bindings, and their positions on 
the shelves. So some persons, in passing through the country, will 
notice, and give an account of, almost everything that comes within 
the range of their vision, while others will scarcely notice anything that 
is there. The sense of observation was keen with the fev/, and dor- 
mant in the others. We have frequent exhibitions of the same oppos- 
ing principles in the great theatre of human life. And what the world 
calls educated men are often very dull of observation, because they are 
wanting in the early culture of the senses. Such is the beginning of 
a wrong S5^stem of education — and a very prevalent one. Well trained 
:animals often exhibit wonderful powers, but it is the result of a train- 
ing of the senses only. A recent scientific investigation of the doings- 
■of an educattd horse in Berlin, that was claimed to po.sse.ss reasoning 
powers, decided that his phenominal attainments were the result of a 
long course of train'ng his powers of observation. The earher in life 
— and a few hours daily— that the training of the senses of children be- 
gins, bv observation merely, the better. Judiciously conjoin the kind- 
• ergarten exercises with observation, and that will be a good beginning, 
a s^und foundation, for universal primary culture through the medium 
o' ;he senses. This early training should be coupled with the tender- 
ness and kindness that always secure good results. Wild animals, and 
Ihe most vicious horses, are wonderfully subdued by kind treatment; 



22 

and early life is the time to permanenth^ fix, in the tender minds of 
children, their natural tendencies to goodness and justice. 

Children are delighted to enjoy things with their associates of the 
same age, where there is a community of interests and feelings. This 
isseen at a ver}" earh' age. When the teacher is explaining an illus- 
trated story ^to a class of children, let them make remarks, let them ask 
questions, even if the story be a very simple one — about a cat and her" 
kittens, for'instance. How ardent will the children become in their 
common enthusiasm. The greater their exuberance of feeling the 
better; the greater their enjoyment. In a crowd enthusiasm is catch- 
ing, with children, as well as with adults. The almost unconscious re- 
marks of the little children show it as they look at a group of kittens- 
at pla}^ "Oh, see that kitten ! See those two roll over each other ! 
That is just what my kittens do," says one. "How pleased the old 
cat looks !" sa3-s another. "See her wave her tail !" says a thu'd. And 
so it would be to the end of thestor}-, where a common interest can be 
awakened b}' a skillful teacher. An agreeable observation lesson, and. 
a pleasant exercise of both the observing and the descriptive faculties 
never weary the mind, but brighten it. 

The educational results are thus much better in the teaching of 
fifty or a hundred children, than it would be in teaching them separate- 
ly. And this is one thing which the S3^stem of the culture of the 
senses, by obserA'ation, secures. Private teachers are suitable for ad- 
vanced students onlj'. Children are sensitive plants, and one great aim 
in their educational treatment should be to keep them happy, and this- 
is best accomplished by keeping them mentally alert on pleasant scenes,, 
and this can seldom be attained by living wholly with their elders. 
They need the conipan}' of those of their own age with whom the}^ can 
exchange confidences about a thousand little things that have no inter- 
est for those who are older. Associates are needed to foster good feel- 
ings, to insure a proper regard for the rights of all, and to cultivate the 
courtesies as potent auxiliaries to good treatment and kind feelings- 
from others, — and such are among the great secrets of health, and 
strength, and power, and self control, in the various duties and respon- 
sibilities of life. 

Under our present educational S5^stem, as soon as children are 
thought to be old enough to study, their tender minds are put under a 
course of mental drill that is a long continued system of drudgery to 
most of them, and certainly not the pleasurable enjoyment of the sense 
of sight; and it is constant work, against the dulling effects of which 
they are constantly seeking relief by any by-plays that are at hand. L 

LotC. 



23 

'would not keep them from those innocent plays wliicli their nervous 
natures yearn for; but ph^^sical recreation is no more needed than men- 
tal recreation, that enjo\-able mental exrrcisc which healthy mental 
.growth demands and which needs the ])Ieasurable culture of the 
■senses, which are a part of our being, and quite as much of a spiritual 
-as of a physical nature; and in order for the two to move forw'ard in 
Jharmony, each needs the constant support of the other; and both should 
;go through life together. 

Judge Carter, of Chicago, who has had much experience in a court 
where the insane have a trial,. believes that much of the insanity of to- 
■day begins, and is nourished, through the too advanced and crowded 
•studies of the school room, which, he sa3^s, are turning out an arm}' of 
nervous, fidget}' girls and boys, many of them unfit for business life be- 
fore they begin. Our present civilization is a whirr and a buzz of over- 
energized mentality, so much so that scientific investigators now 
•declare that insanity is following in its wake. A Chicago physician, 
who is superintendent of an in.sane asylum, says that one person in 
-every one hundred and fift}^ is insane, and one in every five is dis- 
posed to insanity. Another Chicago M. D. says that insanity has 
increased in the United States three hundred per cent in fifty years, — 
'One half of that increase being in the last ten j^ears,— and that drink, 
-drugs, worr}', overwork, and excitement, are among its leading causes. 
If the system of education that I have marked out in this article, 
::and fortified by the numerous applications of its principles, as set forth 
in the preceding article entitled, the "Educational Chart Exhibitor," 
were extensively adopted, it is believed that the children of the country 
would acquire thereby an intellectual fund of valuable ideas, and 
•grasp of thought, as a foundation for future educational progress, far 
be5'ond what has hitherto been available to them. Their necessary 
familiarit}', partial though it be, with the subjects brought before them, 
would naturally lead them, when the}^ are a little older, to seek for 
books that treat of the same pleasantly familiar subjects, rather than to 
fall into miscellaneous and frequently unprofitable reading, which often 
jbecomes a youthful dissipation, and is bad company at the best. 

Thus it will happen, as soon as the younger pupils can read a lit- 
tle — or even before that if they have had the large natural hi.story pic- 
tures explained to them from the chart-roll — that books on the same 
subject with .small pictures of the same objects, will greatly interest 
Ihem; and they will delight to tell what the pictures mean, and what 
has been told them about such and such animals. And thus a taste, 
by some millions of little learners, for books of Natural History and 



24 

kindred subjects, will ere long begin to control the juvenile books 
called for from the libraries, with ever growing advances in their char- 
acter. 

And here comes in the question — and it is an important one — what 
are the kinds of books now chiefly called for by the reading public ? 
We have been at some pains to obtain a definite answer to this question 
by corresponding with the librarians of some of the most prominent 
libraries in our country. We find that son: e of them have kept a de- 
tailed account of the character and number of all the volumes taken 
from their libraries for home reading during several years. Many of 
the libraries have not carried out this system fully, but a sufficient num- 
ber of them have carried it so far as to show definite and quite uniform 
results, that fulh^ answer our purposes. 

ist. Mercantile Library OF New York. Number of volumes 
in library, 263,217. Books issued from the main library and its two 
branches, for home reading during the year 1900, 173,696 volumes, of 
which 103,851 volumes were works of fiction, which comprise a little: 
less than 60 per cent. (59.78) of all the volumes issued. Thus consid- 
erably more than one-half of the books given out were works of fiction; 
but probably, as we shall see, the number of books given out, did 
not comprise one-half of the number oi persons who read them. Of the 
books in the Reference Department, handed down for examination, 
more than a thousand of the volumes were works of fiction. The num- 
ber of volumes of fiction added to the library during the year comprised 
3,294 volumes, while all the other volumes added numbered only 2,641. 

2d. In the Brooklyn Public Library the total circulation for- 
the year ending Feb. ist, 1901, is stated to have been 639,528 volumes, 
of which number 399,334 volumes were works of fiction, the latter thus 
constituting more than 62 per cent, of the entire circulation, and thus- 
differing but little from the results of the Mercantile Library. 

3d. Boston Public Library. The librarian states: — Number of 
books drawn for home use for the year ending Feb. ist, 1901, was 
1,324,728. Cannot give number of volumes of fiction. 

4th. Public Library op Cincinnati. The librarian states that 
"The circulation for the year ending April 30, 1901, was 673,553 vol- 
umes. Of this number possibly 70 per cent, were fiction." And yet he 
further says: "Of all the books in the library only ten or fifteen per 
cent, are works on English fiction." This shows how great was the 
circulation of these few novels, compared with the limited circulation, 
of all the other books in the library. 

5th. Public Library of St. Louis. The librarian sends the 



25 

following rcpji't. Number of books in library, 155,000. Home circu- 
lation, 770,129. Percentage of novels circulated, 5S. Total income, 
$9/, 422. 68. Amount from city tax :^75,727, 18. Amount spent for 
books $14,930.03. 

Here, 770,129 books were taken out for home reading, and of that 
number, 58 per cent., or 446,672, were works of fiction. It must be 
understood, of course, that neither in this, nor in other like cases, Avere 
so many different books taken out, but so many answered calls for books 
.some ot the books being taken out many times. 

6f!. Chicago Pubi,ic Library. Total books in ]ibrar\- Jur.e 
ist, 1900, 258,498 volumes. Home circulation of books for year end- 
ing May 31st, 1901, 1,749,775 volumes. Of the number of volumes 
issued for home reading, about 45 per cent, were Knglish y.-rose fiction, 
■amounting to 786,524 volumes, — or, more correctly, thai is the number 
•of answered calls that received books; but, in addition to this, about 28 
per cent, consisted of so-called "Jiivenile Literature," but of a charac- 
ter not stated, although we are entitled to suppose it was mostly chil- 
-dren's story books. Sciences and the arts constituted a little less than 
.six per cent, of the total circulation. In the Reference Department, 
however, 317,430 volumes were issued to 11,270 visitors. The num- 
iber of visitors stated to have called at the reading rooms for patent 
reports and public documents — or individual calls, is stated to have 
iDeen 20,270. The library has six branch reading rooms. 

7th. Mercantile iL^iBRARY of PhiIvAdelphia. Number of 
books loaned last year, 68,000. D(^ not take account of kinds loaned. 
8th. Free Public Library of Newark, N. J. Although the 
books on the shelves of this library at the close of the year 1900 (latest 
report) numbered only 77,297 volumes, yet there were circulated dur- 
ing the preceding year, for home use, from the main office and the 
eight delivery stations, 341,899 volumes, of which, works of fiction 
constituted about 59 per cent. (59.2), amounting to 202,404 volumes; 
while natural sciences and useful arts amounted to but little more than 
two per cent. (2.10) of the entire circulation. In addition, however, 
to the 59 per cent, of fiction, what was designated as "Juveniles," but 
not further described, amounted to tvventy-one and a half per cent, of 
the entire circulation. Thus fiction and juveniles amounted to a little 
more than 80 per cent, of the whole. 

As a peculiar feature, there were ten selections, of fifty books each, 
called "Traveling Libraries," supposed to be adapted to the different 
grades of pupils, and that were passed around among the schools. As 



26 

a further branch of the Newark I^ibrar}- S5'sttrm, there were Iwenty- 
small circulating "Firemen's Libraries," in which, however, very 
naturally, works of fiction were more than twice the number of all other 
works. 

Now, returning to the statements relating to the Mercantile Li- 
brary of New York, it must be borne in mind that the volume's re- 
ported as "in circulation," were generalh' those taken to homes, where 
there were other readers for them besides the person taking out the 
books, whereby it seems probable that every such volume was read b\' 
not less than three persons. And as 173,696 volumes were issued dur- 
ing the year, and of which 103,696 were volumes of fiction, it follows, 
that only 69,845 of these volumes were other than fiction. Now it is 
further probable that each one of these latter volumes was read ])y but 
one person; whereby a little calculation brings us to the conclusion that,, 
of the great number of persons who patronize the public libraries, not 
less than four persons read fiction, while but one person reads any other 
kind of literature. It is further probable that this conclusion applies, 
not onl}' to the patrons of all the public libraries in our countr}', but to- 
those of the Booklovers, the Tabard Inn, and all other distributing 
agencies, including the rapidly growing Carnegie libraries. It is fur- 
ther apparent, as was the case in the Newark libraries, that probably 
not as many as hvo per cent, of all the books now taken from the public 
libraries, are works on Natural Histor}^ or have any distinct relations 
whatever to the multitudes of the wonderful facts that pertain to the 
natural sciences. How different the results would be after a few years. 
of our proposed system of the primary culture of the senses, any intelli- 
gent person may judge. 

It is not probable that the proportional number of readers of fiction 
will be lessened in the future, under our present system of general edu- 
cation; nor do I think it desirable that it should be until a natural evo- 
lution otherwise supplies or changes the demand for something differ- 
ent; for it is far better for ths rising population to read fiction than to 
read nothing. But if the children of the countr}- were early trained in 
that culture of the senses that we have suggested, through a course of 
s^eing, and of hearing, so many things of interest as we would bring 
before them, — and, as it were a new world to therj — their growing de- 
mands would call for a new series of nature books and other works 
adapted to their enlarged views and growing wants. And in the kind 
of primar}' work suggested there would be growing up a set of teachens. 
with adaptations to their new duties, that would give them a value as 
professionals, not hitherto dreamed of. Many of the early teachers 



27 

"-svould probabl>' come from the kindergarten schools. 

In the higher departments of education we have numerous and 
constantly increasing advance schools, and more ami more liberalizing 
branches of study that are opening their riches for those wlio are above 
the common schools, and for our adult population generally; and in all 
■directions we are growing into a great nation that is destined to rule 
the world in commerce, philosophy, science, and art. All this is very 
well, but it is far above the formation period of the nation's life; and 
we think the latter should be better guarded agairst evil tendencies 
than it is now. 

And when we consider that in the present advance period of the 
nation's growth there are more than twelve millions of our young 
people between five and twent}^ years of age, who do not attend school 
at all, and that of those who do attend school, nearly six per cent, of 
them, according to the census of 1S90, attended only one month or less 
•during the year; and that about fifteen per cent, of those who did at- 
tend school, attended from two to three months onh-; and that the 
^census of 1900 shows quite similar results, we are possibly struck with 
the fact that the advantages of primar}^ education are very unequally 
^^hared, as between the rich and the poor of our people, when it is a 
national dut\-, for the national good, to give the same primary educa- 
tional advantages to all classes. 

It is no want of a due appreciation of the higher reaches of mental 
.-activit}', but as laying better foundations for them, that we have sug- 
gested changes in the present primary edu:ational sj'Stem; changes in 
which there is no routine cramming for the tender 3'ears of childhood, 
no learning b}- rote, no stifling of the imagination to check- the natural 
■ mental development; but changes by which many waj'S and by-waj'S 
.are opened for children to think and develop for themselves, though 
luider a constant supervision, until they have gained wisdom to mark 
■out, and strength and ambition to work out, their own futures. 

And now, wich all the highh- to be commended benefactions for 
the already much educated colleges, and universities, and public libra- 
ries, and art and other kindred schools, may not something be done for 
the betterment of primar}- education, lower down though much of it be, 
among the children of the masses — the populace — the much neglected 
throngs — the very people themselves — who, ere long, aie to crowd all 
the avenues of public life? The public good demands that all these 
shall have— both for their protection and ours — without charge, what 
we would call a comprehensive primary educatioi:,.and 3'et wholly of a 
formative character, for further but varied development, for the ma 



28 

up of the denizens of an intelligent republic. The higher education-, 
will then, all the better, take care of itself. 



A Hopeful View of the Educational Future. 



After much experience, and much study and reflection, we have 
come to the conclusion that a judicious culture of the senses in early 
life — and continued through the school period, is the proper basis of all 
true education. It is that part of education that has hitherto been 
greatly neglected, because but little observed in the common school sys- 
tem that is supposed to be open to all. 

Yet we have known of some wonderful instances of intellectual 
growth in private life, along lines essentially similar to those which we 
have suggested, and where there was no real shidij prior to the sixth 
year, or later; when no task was set, no discipline was required; but all 
was made as pleasant and delightful as possible, and often enlivened by 
fairy tales and innocent games when the class was sufficiently large for 
it. Such examples are highly suggestive, both to parents and the pub- 
lic in general. 

The great mass of the children of the country do not enter school 
before their sixth year; and from the third to the sixth 3'ear the open 
field of thought and observation is so barren of culture that, meta- 
phorically, it becomes encumbered with a large crop of weeds that must 
be eradicated before the planting of the seeds of knowledge in the old 
way of study, and drill, and lessons, can be begun. And then — how 
slow the progress ! 

We would gather the juveniles into a common school, perhaps as 
early as the beginning of their third year, when convenient, at first 
for a short period in the forenoon, and then for a short time also in the 
afternoon, when a room in every primary school building should be set 
apart for the purpose; or the one schoolroom should be given up to the 
use of this primary juvenile instruction. This would be without 
detriment to the other pupils, for all might enjoy the pleasant scene, to 
their educational profit; as the older pupils, for a time, would be those 
who had not enjoyed the same kind of instruction. Thus should the 
common schools of all the land, increased by the kindergarten addi- 
tions, enter upon an advanced system of Primar}- Education for all ; and 
then no longer would the age be characterized by "the whining school- 
boy — creeping unwillingly to school." 



LBJL '05 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



00D17S77'^b7 ^. 




vy;-!' 






